Launch Campaign

The Launch command allows you to deploy a campaign to a List of subscribers or a Segment of a List. It requires the following arguments: Command, Realm, Password, List and Format.

api_web?r=myrealm&p=mypass&c=launch&list_id=5&format=2

The command is ‘launch’, the realm is ‘myrealm’ and the password is ‘mypass’. The list properties are defined in list with ID ‘5’, the template content to send is defined in the list properties, and all subscribers in the list will receive the HTML content format.

Before deploying a campaign, every email address to receive the message must be subscribed to the list. If a subscriber does not exist or is not subscribed to the list, no message will be sent to that subscriber. In order to send a message to a non-subscriber (such as an order confirmation), please use the send command.

When you call the Launch command, a campaign is created and all data collects as part of this campaign. However, the Launch command does not check to ensure subscribers exist in the list or list segment. If there are 0 subscribers, the command will return SUCCESS, but no campaign will deploy.

Return Count

The Launch command can also return the subscriber count for the campaign by using the command 'launchwithcount'. It works the same as the basic 'launch' but also returns the number of pieces sent.

Super List

Prior to v12.06.0, Launch deploys campaigns of type Normal only and does not deploy a Super List. Super Lists can only be deployed through the user interface or in versions before v12.06.0.

Customized Content

Templates support the option of sending customized information. While you can pass in custom data with the Send command, the Launch command can only use the data associated to each subscriber for each message.

However, you can customize the List From and Reply To address using custom subscriber data fields. This can be accomplished by setting the custom data in the List properties (From = "%%$myfrom%%" <%%$myemail%%>).

When the message is sent, the publisher will grab the data stored in the Subscriber's custom data field to fill in the address settings:

From: "My Custom From Address" <mycustomemail@domain.com>

Example

Using all commands and arguments (please note the command is wrapped for display purposes only):

A message from List ‘5’ with MIME merged content from Template ‘42’ will be sent to all subscribers that match the rules defined in segmentation rule ‘9’. The default Template Subject will be replaced in the resulting message. The message will be sent through the 'myvmta' IP. Successful results return:

SUCCESS:

Alternately, to send an A/B Test, use the command in the following format:

The basic Launch command success message is the simple word 'SUCCESS'. The result format is:

SUCCESS:

The Launch command with the additional 'withcount' returns the number of subscribers currently matching the List Count minus any Segment or Suppression rules. The result format is:

SUCCESS: [number_pieces_sent]

The Launch command with the additional 'return_task_id' returns the identification number of the list and the task created for the campaign to launch. The result format is:

SUCCESS: list_id [list_id] launched. Task ID: [task_id]

FAILURE

A Launch command will fail for several reasons, such as if the list does not exist or the From Address is missing. The result format is:

FAILURE: [Reason]

Arguments

The Launch commands support the following arguments:

Name

Req?

Description

Argument

Command

Yes

Defines the command to use.

cmd= [launch, launchwithcount]

c=[launch, launchwithcount]

*listrun and listrunwithcount prior to v10 also acceptable

Realm

Yes

Name of the realm to run the command. This is required, and the command will fail if the realm and password do not match.

realm=[realm_name]

r=[realm_name]

Password

Yes

Authentication code for API access. This is required, and the command will fail if the realm and password do not match.

pwd=[password]

p=[password]

List ID

Yes

Identifier of the list properties to use.

list_id=[list_id]

Template ID

Identifier of the template content to send. If no template id defined in the call, the default template defined in the List properties will be used. If no template is defined there, the call will fail. In the template, both formats must be defined in order to send MIME.

template_id=[template_id]

Subject

Subject line of the message to send. This overrides the default Subject defined in the Template. Character limit is 48.

subject=[text]

Seed List

To seed a campaign with test addresses from a Seed List, set the seed_list id.

seed_list_id=[seed_list_id]

Segmentation Rule

Identifier of the segmentation rule to use to limit the subscribers. If no segmentation rule is specified, the campaign will deploy to every subscriber in the List.

segmentation_id=[segmentation_rule_id]

Format

Yes

To specify the format of the email messages, set Format to the corresponding value:

1= send Plain Text only2 = send HTML only99 = send Multipart MIME

format=[1,2,99]

Campaign Alias

An optional text string to help you distinguish the campaign from others deployed from the same list.

campaign_alias=[text]

Send RSS

By default, campaigns will send to all subscribers, including any RSS subscribers. to prevent messages from deploying to RSS Subscribers, set to 0.

Name of the Virtual MTA IP address through which to deploy the messages. If not defined, the VTMA set in the List properties will be used.

vmta=[vmta_name]

A/B Definition

Identifier of the A/B Test Definition to deploy to subscribers. List, Template, and Segment are not required or used when A/B Definition is used because the List, Template, and Segment are defined in the A/B Definition.

ab_defintion_id=[ab_definition_id]

A/B Deployed By Email

Email address of the realm User deploying the A/B test. if the email address does not match a User in the realm, then the command will fail. Required when sending A/B Test.

deployed_by_email=[email address]

Return Task ID

On a successful launch, return the idnetifier for the created task if set to 1.

return_task_id=[0,1]

DEFAULT==0

Seed Delivery

To seed a campaign with email addresses associated with monitored mailboxes (ie: Return Path), set Delivery to 1. This feature is limited in its availability and must be enabled in your Realm settings. When the campaign is complete, the results of the Deliverability Report are available in the Campaign Details.

delivery=[0,1]

DEFAULT==0

Released in v10.8.0

Send Notification

After the campaign has completed, a notification email will be sent to the specified email address.

notify_email=[email address]

Email Campaign Labels

Define labels to associate the campaign for later reporting, including Email Phase, Type, and Category. Labels are optional. The label name must match a valid label of the specified type already defined in your Account. See Get Email Labels to get a list of defined labels of each type in your Account.